National full contact Division I college football recruiting began a week ago. The University of Minnesota is still without a permanent coach.

Not a problem, Joel Maturi said Saturday, explaining that if he had the new coach already in place for recruiting, he wouldn't be able to hire a coach who is still coaching.

"I mean, figure it out," the Gophers' athletic director said. "Who coaching is going to leave their team so they could go recruiting last Sunday? For most (coaches), seasons didn't end until last Saturday. They still haven't ended for some.

"So that's irrational thought."

Maturi spent Saturday in his office.

"For anybody to come to the conclusion that the (search) process is not working is inaccurate," he said. "The process is working. We will find a coach who is a good coach, who wants to be here, and hopefully will have success when it's all said and done. We've done a lot of work."

Either of private jets owned by TCF Bank and Gophers financial supporter T. Denny Sanford are said to be available to fly the new coach to town this week.

Boise State coach Chris Petersen's name surfaced Saturday for the Gophers vacancy. And University of Connecticut coach Randy Edsall, despite denials, keeps getting mentioned. Edsall's compensation package at UConn is $1.77 million this season, with a buyout of $500,000.

Advertisement

A recent rumor is that Minnesota has been considering Miami's (Ohio) Mike Haywood, the Mid-American Conference coach of the year whose team this season is 9-4 after finishing a 1-11 in his first season a year ago.

Haywood, 46, was a graduate assistant at Minnesota and played on a national championship team as a wide receiver at Notre Dame. Tony Dungy is believed to have endorsed him.

Gophers interim football coach Jeff Horton was to attend the St. Thomas-Bethel NCAA Division III quarterfinal football playoff game Saturday at St. Thomas.

There's no truth, Navy says, to the rumor that football coach Ken Niumatalolo is a finalist for the Gophers job. Temple is now saying the same about coach Al Golden.

What appears to be the imminent departure of Twins reliever Jesse Crain via free agency could lead to the retirement of Crain's No. 28 jersey, not because he's worn it but because it belonged to starter Bert Blyleven, who seems a virtual cinch for election to baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., next month.

By the way, Blyleven missed election last year by just five votes. And this year, there are two new Baseball Writers' Association of America Hall of Fame voters from the Twin Cities.

The Brad Childress-to-coach-the-Miami Hurricanes rumor is picking up steam. Miami President Donna Shalala knows Childress from his days as offensive coordinator when they were at Wisconsin.

A St. Paul commercial realtor says the cost to remediate the former munitions site in Arden Hills that is believed to be a consideration for a Vikings stadium would be offset by a lower sale price for the land, which is owned by the U.S. government and has languished for decades.

The Vikings need 230 acres for a stadium, and the site, where U.S. 10 meets Interstate 35W, is 459 acres.

Look for former Bloomington Jefferson star Cole Aldrich to be promoted from the NBA D-League's Tulsa 66ers to the Oklahoma City Thunder in time for his homecoming against the Timberwolves on Wednesday at Target Center. For the 66ers, Aldrich averaged 8.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in three games.

Ohio State spent more money on its football program last year than any college in America, the NCAA reports, with Alabama and Notre Dame second and third, respectively. Minnesota spent slightly more than half on its program compared to the Buckeyes.

Ohio State invested $31.76 million for the 2009-10 school year, the last year figures were available to FanHouse, which acquired the information from the U.S. Department of Education's Equity in Athletics study. Alabama spent $31.11 million, while Notre Dame spent $29.49 million on its program.

Wisconsin ($22.04 million) was second in the Big Ten followed by Penn State ($19.78 million), Iowa ($18.46 million), Michigan ($18.32 million) and Michigan State ($17.46 million). Nebraska, which joins the Big Ten next season, spent $17.93 million in 2009.

Gophers' 6-foot-3 men's basketball signee Andre Hollins of Memphis, Tenn., scored a career-high 46 points but his White Station high school team lost to perennial national power Findlay Prep 70-65 Thursday night.

"If he's not considered top 10 nationally now, he will be," Findlay Prep coach Michael Peck told the Commercial Appeal. "He is one of the best four players this program has ever faced, and I'd compare him to one of our best in Avery Bradley, who's now with the Boston Celtics."

Hollins, who is playing point guard, scored 33 points in a game last week.

St. Paul's Mark Nelson, 55, will referee the world heavyweight championship boxing match between Wladimir Klitschko of Kiev, Ukraine, and Dereck Chisora of London in Mannheim, Germany, on Saturday.

The fight, Nelson's 55th world title assignment, will be telecast on ESPN3.com.

A benefit for former heavyweight boxer Scott LeDoux, who is battling Lou Gehrig's disease, will be Saturday evening at Bayview Event Center in Excelsior. Mike Woodley, who is organizing the $25-per-ticket tribute, is bringing Frank Stallone, younger brother of Sylvester Stallone of "Rocky" movie fame, in from Los Angeles. Frank arranged the "Rocky" soundtrack.

Joining Stallone will be Jimi Jamison, lead singer for the band Survivor. Jamison sang "Eye of the Tiger" and other "Rocky" songs. The group will sing hit songs from "Rocky" for LeDoux. For tickets, call 612-386-0082.

By the way, Woodley, 50, a former WCCO-AM and KFAN-AM sports talk host, lives in Excelsior and hosts the 14-school Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference TV and radio shows.

Keith Millard still has the NFL record for sacks by a defensive tackle in a season with 18 in 1989, when he was with the Vikings, the Detroit Free Press points out. Detroit Lions rookie Ndamukong Suh, who will face the Vikings in the regular-season finale on Jan. 2 in Detroit, has eight sacks at defensive tackle. The record for a rookie at that position is 10 1/2 by the 49ers' Dana Stubblefield in 1993. The Vikings' Kevin Williams also had 10 1/2 sacks as a rookie in 2003, playing defensive end and defensive tackle. The NFL record for a rookie defensive lineman is 14 1/2 by the Titans' Jevon Kearse in 1999.

Millard, 48, operates a football academy near San Francisco.

Former Chicago Cubs great Ron Santo, who died Thursday night at age 70, has been in a mix with former Twin Tony Oliva for consideration for baseball's Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.

Jeff Sorenson, 32, the Minnesota PGA player of the year the past three years and teaching professional at Columbia Golf Club, shot rounds of 72, 73, 71, 70 in Panama City Beach, Fla., in second-stage PGA Tour qualifying and missed advancing to the final stage by two shots.

Macalester College, known more for its superb academics than athletics and no longer competing in football in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, finished this football season 6-3, its first winning record since 1986.

Tennis' top doubles team — brothers Mike and Bob Bryan — play at the Fred Wells Tennis Center in St. Paul today.

Two longtime, beloved Twins employees — Peggy Imhoff and Glo Westerdahl — are at the Minnesota Masonic Home in Bloomington recovering from knee replacement surgeries.

Danny McDevitt, who pitched in 16 games for the inaugural Twins team in 1961, died at age 78 in Covington, Ga., the other day.

Cretin-Derham Hall grad Freddie Weinke, 27, has taken a job as offensive and defensive line coach for the Green Bay Blizzard of the Indoor Football League.

White Bear Lake grad Sarah Melhorn wrapped up her college soccer career as team captain at Division I Valparaiso, playing in 71 career games.

Former Timberwolves VP Kevin McHale, an NBA TV analyst, on the Miami Heat with LeBron James: "There is not enough ball movement or body movement. They are technically doing some things that are making it really hard for them to win games."

Bill Quinn, who died the other day at age 65, coached the Benilde-St. Margaret's girls hockey team to the 2002 Class A state title. For much of the Wild's first decade, Quinn named the three game stars for "Let's Play Hockey" at Wild games.

Look for former Richfield High School star Ray Brown, who played last season for Hamline University, to join the Premiere Basketball League's Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry team next month.

Local author Joel Rippel has a biography out, "Brock Lesnar: The Making of a Hardcore Legend."

Former Timberwolves public address announcer Bill Westlund, 56, walks with a cane but has recovered from a stroke and quadruple coronary bypass surgery and is back announcing for the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA D-League.

Ex-Highland Park High and Augsburg College hockey-baseball standout Ben Cowan was given Snap Fitness' national franchise of the year award for his two centers in St. Paul.

The Gophers athletics department collected more than 1,800 pounds of food and raised more than $5,300 for Second Harvest Heartland during Thanksgiving week.

Volleyball star Emily Rome of Chaskawas inducted into the University of Delaware Athletics Hall of Fame the other day, joining ex-Vikings QB Rich Gannon among famous grads.

DON'T PRINT THAT

Word is Brady Hoke, the San Diego State football coach the Gophers targeted early in their search, is in line for the Stanford job if Stanford's Jim Harbaugh leaves for alma mater Michigan.

Former Gophers record-setting punter Adam Kelly of Minnetonka, concerned about his alma mater's football future, actively campaigned some University of Minnesota regents to choose a president who values a strong football program and the impact it can have on a school. Kelly, 47, who lives in Edina, developed a relationship with former Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach and has strongly promoted him as successor to Tim Brewster.

Former Gophers QB Marc Trestman, who has coached the Montreal Alouettes to three straight Grey Cup finals, including the past two championships, hasn't been seriously considered for the football coaching job at his alma mater.

A couple of Gophers boosters, disenchanted with the football coaching search, are encouraging Lou Holtz, who turns 74 next month, to return to Minnesota. No word on whether Luther Darville would be part of a package.

Maybe the Twins could include shortstop J.J. Hardy in a deal for Kansas City Royals starter Zack Greinke.

Odds of the Vikings winning this season's Super Bowl didn't improve following their victory over Washington last week — the Vikings are still at 200-to-1, according to the Bodog sportsbook.

On-street tickets for today's Vikings-Buffalo Bills game at the Metrodome should be available for $5, one scalper says.

The Timberwolves, through 19 games, are shooting just 36 percent (123 for 342) from three-point range.

Don't be surprised if the Gophers' Nick Bjugstad is announced Tuesday as a preliminary member of the U.S. National Junior hockey team that will compete in the world tournament Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Buffalo, N.Y.

OVERHEARD

Vikings interim coach Leslie Frazier, asked about his plans if he isn't named permanent coach: "Haven't even thought about it."